On Thursday, February 23, 2023, from 6:30 p.m. in the “Sliven” hall, we will hear an exceptional baroque concert with the music of Antonio Vivaldi. Such a project very rarely becomes known to the public outside the capital. Original instruments, world-class performers and a magnificent program selected with taste and understanding. The Sliven Symphony Orchestra will have the pleasure of partnering on stage with a truly stellar cast.
The famous violinist ZEFIRA VALOVA is a musician with inexhaustible energy, creative potential, tireless passion and apostolic devotion. An exceptional professional, she is highly regarded worldwide and works with the best baroque ensembles in Europe. His impressive discography includes recordings for Brilliant Classics, Channel Classics, Alpha, Deutsche Grammophon, Bulgarian National Television and Radio.
She is the ideologist and artistic director of the “Baroque Art” festival, and thanks to her, year after year, the biggest names in this genre come to Sofia to make known to the local public those creative searches that illuminated Europe centuries ago, and and today they give us a bit of light in the difficult times of chaos and opposition. Now it is also coming to Sliven.
The concert will also include the violinist KREMENA OKSENKRUG, director of the Sliven Symphony Orchestra, who also has behind her cooperation and experience with some of the most famous baroque musicians in the world such as Federico Maria Sardelli, Francesco Fanna, Riccardo Minazzi, Sonatori de la Gioiosa Marca, François Lazarevic and others.
Cellist LINDA MANCHEVA has dedicated her musical career to “historically informed performance practices”. He specialized in baroque cello at the University of the Arts in Berlin, and is a laureate of international baroque chamber music competitions in Germany and Italy, a scholarship holder of the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation “LiveMusicNow”. He performed on stage at the Early Music Festival in Utrecht, the Bach Biennale in Weimar, the Van Wassenaer Festival in Amsterdam, the Art of the Baroque Festival and many others in Montreal, Tokyo, St. Petersburg, Buenos Aires. He is a regular member of the ensembles Les passions de l’ame (Switzerland), L’arte del mondo and Harmonie Universelle (Germany), Les Ambassadeurs (France).
The versatile musician MARIO SOLLAZZO was born in Naples and is the founder and director of the record label NovAntiqua Records. He alternates his activities as a pianist and fortepiante with those of a harpsichordist and conductor, relying on an extensive repertoire ranging from baroque to contemporary music with a strong connection to opera and musical theatre. One of his latest CDs “Diminuzioni all’improvviso”, a session of harpsichord improvisations in various styles from the Baroque era was recorded in one night, and was nominated for the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik 2022. He has performed for the most renowned festivals and concert seasons in Europe. Since 2006, he has been a professor at the Istituto Superiore di Studi Musicali Vecchi-Tonelli in Modena, where he also works with the Bulgarian opera legend Raina Kabaivanska.
FABIANO MERLANTE, will present two instruments that the Sliven audience will hear for the first time – tiorba and baroque guitar! An incredibly active musician who works with the most prestigious baroque chamber ensembles and performs in Italy, Austria, South Korea, Croatia, France, Germany, Norway, Holland, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, etc. His recordings are regularly broadcast on TV and radio channels such as RAI (Italy), ORF (Austria), Radio France (France), NDR (Germany) and Dwójka (Poland). A teacher, researcher and specialist in antique instruments, he will turn the Sliven Baroque evening into a real sensation.
23 FEBRUARY 2023 /THURSDAY/
6.30 p.m.
Hall “SLIVEN”
18-20 Georgi S. Rakovski str
8800 Sliven
Concertos for Two Violins and String Orchestra by Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
